Reality x Dream

Haru and Kasumi walked side by side through the busy districts until they reached a residential area, close to the park where they enjoyed flowers together. Modest homes lined the narrow streets, a bit cramped unlike the spacious layouts in Haru’s neighborhood.

As far as Haru could tell, Kasumi belonged to a normal household, standard salaryman with wife and kids. That was the case for most of the students at his school. He was just an oddity, son of a division head of a huge company. It took effort not to stand out in his case. His lavish upbringing made it hard not to look at a classmate’s home and think ‘heh, that sucks.’

Perhaps, that was why he was always on guard. Of those trying to take advantage of that.

Of the girl next to him. She was not Grace, an ideal fabricated in his mind. Yet, both girls were butting heads with each other for his attention. In the case of Koichi and Daichi, it had taken years to trust. Not even a month had passed yet for either girl.

Kasumi stopped, a clear signal that they had arrived at her home.

“Thanks for walking me back. I…”

“Big sis is home! And she brought a guy with her!”

A yell came from the second story. A miniature busy body hanging out the window, looking down at them.

“Yuta, go inside right now! Or you won’t get the pudding I bought tonight!”

The simple denial of sweets for the boy made himself scarce. The power of an older sibling, it seemed.

Haru watched as Kasumi hesitated for a moment, started to backtrack, but then gave up. Whatever she had on her mind would be bottled up for another day.

“Wait.” Haru wasn’t going to let it though.

Kasumi turned around. Her eyes sparkled with confusion in the moonlight. It made her glow with an extra cuteness that tugged at Haru’s heart. Regardless if that was the tipping point, Haru decided to go on the initiative for once.

“Tell me one thing. Why me? Of all the guys in our class – the more handsome, the more popular, the more normal – why did you decide to approach me?”

Kasumi stared at Haru, getting that he was completely serious. There was no jest in his tone like normal. Only an earnest desire for an answer.

“Because I felt like I misjudged you.”

“Eh, come again?”

“You know. Most of us in class initially thought that you were just going to be the rich kid that bought favors. At least, until you didn’t. We kept watching. Waiting for you to slip and flex on us with all the things you had. Most of us got tired of it after a while. The cold, indifferent Haru Higashi that felt like a model student, unbothered by anyone’s excuses. Who needed no one.”

“You think I didn’t notice that? I just wanted to be left alone if you were going to treat me all special.”

“I pegged you as someone that saw all of us below you or something.”

“You got that-”

“I was wrong. You had your head in the clouds, but not because you looked down on everyone. It was because you dreamed big. Still, you always came back down to earth for Motoyama-kun and Kurabe-kun. It made me wonder – why weren’t you bothered by what others thought? What would happen if I just gave you a chance?”

Haru thought back to Megu’s words. How Kasumi didn’t see things the same way as others. How she gave them the benefit of the doubt.

“I found you interesting, Haru-kun. The way you tried sweets, even though it didn’t look like you enjoyed them. How you went along with learning about flowers and sea creatures. The way that you thought you could scare me off with your quirkiness. Something about all that made me feel the real you. Not the person that always sat in the back of the class.”

“So you asked me out because I piqued your curiosity. Was that it?”

“No, I wanted to ask you out because you’re fun to be around, you idiot. Because ever since I saw the real you, you’ve been constantly changing yourself. You’ve been struggling to chase after dreams while having the time of your life. And I got to thinking, I wanted to see some of that dream too. Even if I had to come up with crafty ways to direct your attention towards me.”

Haru stepped back. Kasumi had noticed far more of his actions than he expected. But she didn’t know his motive behind them. If she did, everything would crumble. She would think that he was crazy for trying to entertain an imaginary person in his dreams. She would-

“Kasumi-chan accepts a lot of things about people, for better or worse.”

Megu’s words seemed like a promise, one that Haru wouldn’t trust until he saw for himself. Kasumi wasn’t Grace. She was real. And humans were normally hypocrites.

Haru stepped forward with a test. He let out a chuckle in response to Kasumi’s confession, causing her to step back and listen cautiously.

“What if I told you that I’m actually seeing someone?”

Kasumi’s eyes widened. They begged the question, “Who?”

“She’s someone that I see every night,” Haru said, pacing around dramatically. “You can laugh if you want, but I’ve fallen for a girl in my dreams.”

Kasumi gave him a look like her brain had short-circuited. Haru continued.

“She’s wonderful. A dream fairy that a spend paradise with, and everything that I seem to do in real life gets carried over to construct dates only imaginable. The places I’ve gone. The new things I’ve done. That’s so I can spend my sleeping hours frolicking with a girl named Grace.”

Haru had done it. Everyone would think he was crazy now. Kasumi would spread the word that he was a certified lunatic. But it didn’t matter. Those that would laugh at him weren’t going to hang around for long anyways. Daichi and Koichi would shrug and tease him for creating fiction. Grace would remain by his side. That was enough.

But then, Kasumi raised her hand.

“One question. If this is something that happens in your dreams, then what does it have to do with me during the day? Is this just some creative excuse to tell me that I’m too normal for you?”

“Huh?” Haru hadn’t expected that response.

“I mean, I can understand if I’m just too plain of a girl for you. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of options to choose from. But seriously, just tell me that to my face.”

“No, that’s not what I’m huh-ing about. I just said that I’m in love with a girl in my dreams. You don’t care about that?”

Kasumi shrugged, like Haru had just told him clouds were in the sky or that the ocean had fish.

“I mean… I guess that’s weird… but isn’t it the same as that ‘I love 2D’ rant some otaku go on about sometimes? And since you only dream about her at night, that has no bearing on what you do with me during the day. I think Megu said it best that 2D and 3D are separate planes of existence.”

Haru was flabbergasted. He was trying to hold back tears, turning away as he felt them coming. A string of thoughts blasted through his mind. It ended with,

Shit. A girl as weird as Grace actually exists.

Haru was thrown for a loop as both girls overlapped with each other. His feelings for Grace suddenly spilled over to reality. Parallel existences drummed on both sides of his heart. And once the dam had burst, Haru’s feelings spewed out.

He reached over and embraced Kasumi, surprising her.

Reality and dreams made no difference. Haru was trying to enjoy his life in both. It was not one or the other. And to deny Kasumi at this point would make him a hypocrite.

He took a moment to calm himself. Tears were wiped clean, his back straightened, and a deep breath inhaled for confidence. Kasumi shivered with each action, wondering if she had done something wrong. And as Haru looked her straight in the eyes, her face turned red, hinting that she knew what he would say.

“Let’s start over and try this again. Kato Kasumi, please go out with me.”

#####

The only question now is how Grace will react.

Haru stared as Grace served him a slice of cake. She was dressed in a maid outfit, a guarantee after his visit to the maid café Kasumi worked at. Yet, Haru didn’t mind at all. He thought pink-haired girls in maid outfits were peak.

Haru took a bite of cake and nearly choked. Too sweet, as he held a bitterness on the tip of his tongue. After downing some tea, he cleared his throat.

“Hey Grace, I asked Kasumi-chan out and she said yes.”

The clatter of silverware against china sounded. Grace turned to Haru, like it took her a moment to process the statement. Instantly, Haru felt nervous. He had grown so used to being completely open to Grace that he had forgotten how real her reactions felt at times.

“How wonderful. It sounds like you are really trying hard in your waking hours.”

Oh good, she’s not mad!

Haru let out a sigh of relief. He slunk in his chair and took another bite of cake. It tasted much better now. Nodding to himself, he found solace that his subconscious wasn’t a jealous person. It would be a bit silly for an imaginary girl to feel as such towards a real one.

“Let’s celebrate! I should cook you a meal!” Grace exclaimed, as Haru continued to nod in approval.

And then, a heavy thud shook the table where Haru sat. Surprised by it, Haru peeked forward to see a giant cutting board with an eggplant, the tip of it hacked off. Grace had a cleaver in her hand, waving it above the vegetable before bringing it down with a heavy chop, the blade a bit too close for comfort.

Haru instinctively put his hands over his pants. And with each chop of the cleaver, he winced. Surely, Grace wasn’t hinting at something, was she?

“Um, Grace?”

The dream fairy stopped and looked at him blankly. “Yes?”

“Do you know how to cook?”

“Come to think of it. Not in the slightest.”

“Ah…”

Haru backed away from the table, ever so slowly. He would let Grace have her fun taking it out on something inanimate. Good thing it was a dream. Dreams couldn’t hurt him, could they?